In the past three weeks, the Wild have made three trades, signed a controversial winger and an experienced defenseman, used a compliance buyout to get rid of a veteran and re-signed two key players to three-year deals, including their 35-year-old goalie.

And after adding free-agent defensemen Jonathon Blum and Jon Landry with two-way contracts Friday, the Wild's roster for the 2013-14 season is pretty much set. For the most part, what you see is what you get with the Wild.

And that begs a simple question, which yields a complex answer.

Did the Wild get better?

At face value, any improvement is minimal and difficult to quantify. Much of the team's success or failure next season will be based on the improvements of the Wild's young players.

The Wild traded away Cal Clutterbuck, middle, a fan favorite who tied for ninth in the NHL in hits. (Pioneer Press: Sherri LaRose-Chiglo)

But in an environment in which the Wild were forced to shed nearly $10 million in cap space to become compliant because of a shrinking salary cap, any improvement becomes magnified.

"You've got to take everything in context with the environment and the salary cap," general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "It was a much different type of summer than two summers ago or last summer. Probably a third of the teams in the league had to deal with the smaller cap. We knew we were not going to be able to bring the same team back."

With a plethora of young, skilled forwards already in the system, the goal became finding players who fit specific roles.

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That became more important after the Wild traded third-line checker Cal Clutterbuck and a third-round draft pick to the New York Islanders for another young, skilled player -- Nino Niederreiter, a 20-year-old right-winger from Switzerland.

That deal was the catalyst for the Devin Setoguchi trade and subsequent Matt Cooke signing, a move that brought in a controversial player and was panned by many fans. But it was the type of move the team felt it had to make in this environment.

Cooke signed a three-year deal worth $7.5 million. Clutterbuck signed a contract with the Islanders that will pay him $11 million over four years. Moving from Clutterbuck to Cooke exemplified the type of summer the Wild had. With each move, they tried to save money and make small upgrades at each position.

Cooke brings more to the team than Clutterbuck, primarily because of his offensive skills and experience.

"Last year, I thought the pressure got to us a little, and I'm not sure we handled it as well as needed," Fletcher said. "We think that experience will make a lot of players better. And any time you add experience (like Cooke's), it's just going to help."

Statistically, the Wild forwards likely will improve.

The Wild lost center Matt Cullen, who scored 27 points in 42 games last season. (AP Photo/Genevieve Ross)

But that's largely because the team will have Jason Pominville, acquired in early April and injured for part of his first season here, for a full season. But whether they take a step forward largely will depend on if and by how much young players step up.

The biggest hole is at center on the second line. With the cap coming down, the Wild couldn't afford to keep Matt Cullen, who was the team's best forward for stretches last season.

His spot will be filled by a young player. Mikael Granlund probably will get a good look there, but he will have to prove he's improved enough to earn the spot. Charlie Coyle showed promise on the wing, and he'll get a look, too. Former Gopher Erik Haula might have a shot.

Young players likely will occupy the left wing on the second line and right wing on the third line, too.

On the blue line, big Justin Falk (traded) and experienced Tom Gilbert (bought out) are gone. Enter veteran Keith Ballard and, for the first time on a one-way contract, 23-year-old Marco Scandella.

Call that a wash with potential for improvement. Gilbert struggled last season, but Falk provided a physical component. Scandella will be integral in determining how the Wild defense progresses. He struggled at the beginning of last season but played well in the playoffs.

The defense will remain solid, though, if only because first-liners Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin will spend so much time on the ice. Both had stellar seasons in 2013.

After signing Niklas Backstrom to a three-year deal, the first in the long list of transactions, the Wild will feature the same duo between the pipes as last season, with Josh Harding serving as the backup again. That should be a better situation than it was last season, if only because Harding has said several times since the season ended that he feels as good as he has since being diagnosed last fall with multiple sclerosis. He showed in the playoffs he still can play. If he can take more of the load off Backstrom than he was able to in 2013, they should figure an improvement in net compared with last season.

"There's no question we had to cut some salary," Fletcher said. "And yet I think we were able to make some moves to solidify holes."

It wasn't the free-spending offseason some fans wanted. Because of the cap decreasing, it had to be the opposite. The roster had to change to become cap compliant. And yet it looks awfully similar.

If it's the big acquisition fans want, they likely will have to wait one more year for when the Wild have about $20 million in cap space coming off the books. And the timing couldn't be better: The 2014 free-agency class should be strong.

"We're going to have the ability to make more additions then," Fletcher said. "And next year looks like a much better free-agent crop. This year wasn't particularly good. Next year looks better, and we'll have more space."